Pyongyang a global threat, US insists

February 25 2003By Hamish McDonaldChina CorrespondentBeijing

The United States remains opposed to direct talks with North Korea over its suspected nuclear weapons program, making the task of Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in getting the two sides together an uphill battle.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the issue could not be treated as a bilateral matter between Washington and North Korea, as the Pyongyang government has been insisting since the crisis began in October.

"The US feels strongly that North Korea's actions pose a threat to regional stability and to the global non-proliferation regime," Mr Powell said, during a day of talks with Chinese leaders mainly about North Korea and Iraq.

He emphasised that countries such as the US and China would treat as serious any moves by North Korea to begin reprocessing spent fuel at its recently reactivated Yongbyon nuclear plant and to fabricate nuclear weapons.

Washington was prepared to discuss the issue in a multilateral context, including interested nations such as China, Japan, South Korea and Russia as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose inspectors North Korea expelled when it withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty last month.");document.write("

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Mr Powell said the US had already gone into a bilateral deal with North Korea with the 1994 Agreed Framework, under which Pyongyang froze its nuclear programs in exchange for energy projects.

Former US president Bill Clinton had assured the North Korean leadership of no hostile intent. But Pyongyang had been deceiving the world with its program to build a uranium enrichment facility for making bombs, Mr Powell said.

"Merely because North Korea says it is the only way to deal with the issue does not necessarily mean it's the right way to deal with the issue," he said.

Mr Powell indicated he hoped Chinese leaders would work on persuading Pyongyang to drop its nuclear confrontation, given Beijing's historic links with North Korea's leadership.

"They are anxious to play as helpful a role as they can," he said, but added the Chinese would "play their role quietly".

But in remarks published immediately after his talks with Mr Powell, China's Communist Party leader, Hu Jintao, said China hoped the US and North Korea would conduct direct talks as soon as possible.

This may encourage North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to hold to his line, unless Beijing is saying something different in private.

Mr Downer, who yesterday left for the South Korean capital, Seoul, for today's inauguration of Roh Moo-Hyun as president, said he would try to persuade Mr Powell to "face reality" and deal directly with Pyongyang.

"Whether one likes it or not - and I don't particularly like it - this will have to be resolved bilaterally," he said.

Mr Powell indicated that Washington would still be pursuing "other ideas" on North Korea with China in coming days and weeks, but declined to say anything further about them.